Bonhams
Lot 146
A RARE BRONZE FIGURE OF AN OFFICIALMid Ming DynastyWell cast standing on a slightly flared rectangular plinth raised on shaped supports, wearing long flowing robes adorned at the front with a quatrelobed cartouche enclosing floral decoration, holding in his right hand a belt above his slightly rotund belly, his neck framed by a collar, gazing forward with his head crowned by an official's hat, traces of gilding remaining.25.6cm (10 2/16in) high.Footnotes:Please note this Lot is to be sold at No Reserve. 本拍品不設底價明中期 銅文官像Published, Illustrated and Exhibited: Roger Keverne Ltd., Summer Exhibition, London, 2006, no.10展覽著錄：Roger Keverne Ltd.，《夏季展覽》，倫敦，2006年，編號10Such attire represented the typical dress code for civil officials of high rank. Following the sumptuary laws of 1391, which regulated Ming dynasty dress, the classical Chinese clothing traditions of the Tang and Song dynasties were revived. Tang and Song official costumes themselves can be traced even further back, to the Han dynasty. The long robe with wide sleeves, the sash embellished with beaded jewellery, the rectangular office plaque across the chest were all part of Han dynasty court apparel. One can, therefore, find a close similarity between traditional attires of Chinese court officials over many centuries. Nowhere can this be observed as clearly as on the larger-than-life stone figures of civil officials lining the spirit roads leading to their emperors' mausoleums. See Ann Paludan, The Chinese Spirit Road, New Haven and London, 1991, pl.142 a Tang example, pls 167- 8; two Song examples, pls 202, 205, 213, 228 and 230; several Ming examples.See a similar bronze figure of a eunuch, Ming dynasty, from the collection of Wang Shixiang, illustrated in Zi zhen ji: Wang Shixiang ji, Beijing, 2017, p.63.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
